In 2008, Michael VanDerHerberg walked away from the relative security of a government job and the hundreds of immigrants to the city he's encountered since are so very thankful

Michael VanderHerBerg

SIDEBAR

(Not) Working In Peterborough: A Call To Action

- Hosted Feb. 12, 6 to 9 p.m., by the Peterborough Workers' Action Centre and held at the Peterborough Public Library, 345 Aylmer St. N.

- The Peterborough Workers' Action Centre is a worker-based organization committed to improving the lives and working conditions of people in low-wage and unstable employment. It strives to make sure all workers have a voice at work, and are treated with dignity and respect.

- Evening's purpose is to highlight the building of a Workers' Action Centre in Peterborough, and raise awareness around issues facing workers in Peterborough such as how the EI system is failing workers and their families.

- Presentations will be made by Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives senior economist Armine Yalnizyan and Deena Ladd of the Workers' Action Centre in Toronto.

- Break-out sessions will focus on four questions: What problems have you experienced as a worker in Peterborough? Were you able to get help? What services do people need to address their employment issues? What would you like the next session to focus on?

- Event sponsors include the New Canadians Centre, Peterborough and District Labour Council, Peterborough and District United Way, Peterborough Careers, Peterborough County-City Health Unit, Peterborough Community Legal Centre and Peterborough Social Planning Council.

(PETERBOROUGH) In a city where many wear their willingness to help others like a medal of honour, Michael VanDerHerberg is a four-star general.

A Fleming College product -- the 31-year-old graduated from the geomatics technician GIS (Geographic Information Systems) program in 2005 -- Mr. VanDerHerberg's working life can be neatly divided into two distinct work experiences.

From graduation into 2008, he toiled for the Ministry of Natural Resources in the field for which he was trained, serving with the Peterborough-based ministry as a data exchange administrator, a GIS specialist and a base data support officer.

But as personally satisfying and financially rewarding as that work was -- one does have to pay the bills -- there was a tug.

There was a call to help the struggling. The disenfranchised. To aid those amongst us who needed a hand up. A friend.

"I knew I wanted to work with people," relates Mr. VanDerHerberg, a desire born and nurtured at the church level at St. John's in nearby Ida.

Yes, he worked with people, good people, at the MNR. His calling focused on a different group of people with equally different needs.

"I had an opportunity to work with the Stephen Lewis Foundation.

"That really encouraged what I wanted to do and set the course for what followed."

While with the MNR, in September 2007, Mr. VanDerHerberg's volunteer work took flight in earnest as he began helping Canadian families wade through the administrative process associated with sponsoring refugee families overseas. Just prior to departing the MNR, with others, he founded and developed www.peterboroughcareers.com To this day, he manages and maintains the website, which lists local employment opportunities to help people find paying jobs locally.

While departing the security of his ministry job was quite a leap of faith, he and his wife Andrea have owned and operated the Silver Bean Cafe in Millennium Park since late 2004. Although opened seasonally, the return from that business has somewhat lessened the couple's anxiety over his departing his government job.

"God is going to take care us," he recalls thinking at the time.

"That and my belief that no job is beneath me."

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It was in March 2009 that Michael VanDerHerberg really started to realize the potential of his decision to give the best of himself to others.

Hired on as an employment counselor with the New Canadians' Centre, he worked with clients to determine their job search readiness, helped them achieve required accreditation, and built key relationships with local employers, education and government agencies, and employment services.

In April 2012, he was named the centre's employment services co-ordinator. He now connects with employers to get newcomers to the area jobs and then monitors that relationship.

"It sounds pretty simple but there's a lot involved," notes Mr. VanderHerberg, who, by his estimate, has worked with close to 400 clients to date.

"Out of that, some 75 got work, the majority of which are still employed. My goal has been consistent -- that each person I work with finds a job that's commensurate to the skills and abilities they have."

There are horror stories. They are rare, stresses Mr. VanDerHerberg, but they exist.

"For example, an international student from Thailand worked for three weeks and didn't see a cent. Such occurrences are rare but things happen. They come to me and ask what's going on and I work to get it resolved."

It's those rare but unsettling client experiences that are at the root of a new initiative which the New Canadians Centre, along with a number of other local organizations, are driving. On Feb. 12 at the Peterborough Public Library, a public meeting will examine the need for a Workers' Action Centre in Peterborough.

"Peterborough has very good employers," notes Mr. VanDerHerberg.

"But there are instances where the employer-worker relationship is not so good. The intent of the Workers' Action Centre is not to replace the unions. It's to give workers the positive benefits of a union without the union.

"Imagine you're working in a low-skilled job. You're consistently short-changed but you're afraid to say anything. That exists in pockets now. The centre is a unified voice that will advocate for workers in such a situation. It's a small problem but one we'll be better equipped to deal with by combining resources."

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"I'm the luckiest person I know," assesses Michael VanDerHerberg, who, along with Andrea, is a parent to 16-month-old William.

New Canadians' Centre executive director Hajni Hos is certainly well aware of Mr. VanDerHerberg's compassion for others and willingness to go that extra mile to help ease clients' struggles.

"I wouldn't trade him for anyone," she says.

"He's a perfect fit for the job. He's symbolic of the young, creative people this kind of mentorship needs. Michael is a perfect fit, sometimes taking on too much."

While drumming up support for the Workers' Action Centre has dominated his schedule as of late, Mr. VanDerHerberg has found time to continue to assist Casa Maria, a Peterborough home for refugees. As well, he and Andrea are providing a home to a Ukrainian exchange student as well as a boarder from Fiji. If that's not enough, Andrea recently started a job with Habitat For Humanity.

"The size of Peterborough makes what we do at the New Canadians' Centre work and bodes well for the Workers' Action Centreâ?¦we're not a city but we are a community," notes Mr. VanDerHerberg.

"Many of our clients stay here and get involved in the community. They add to our cultural vibrancy, which is good for all of us.

"My encouragement is a strength, I think. Being a welcoming person, taking people out for a coffee and talking about their situation. Just listening and keeping a brave face on. I'm an eternal optimist.